Cancer is an uncontrolled growth and spread of cells that may affect almost any tissue of the body. It is caused due to a deregulation of the signaling pathways involved in cell survival, cell proliferation and cell death. More than eleven million people are diagnosed with cancer every year. It is estimated that there will be sixteen million new cases every year by 2020. Cancer causes seven million deaths every year worldwide.
Current treatments for cancer have limited effectiveness and a number of side effects. Cancer therapy currently includes surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, bone marrow transplantation, stem cell transplantation, hormonal therapy, immunotherapy, antiangiogenic therapy, targeted therapy, gene therapy and others.
In the treatment of cancer, chemical compounds are used to reduce, inhibit, or diminish the proliferation of tumor cells, and thereby assist in reducing the size of a tumor. These compounds, which exhibit antitumor activity, find use in the treatment of cancers.
Biorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters (12, 3525-3528, (2002)), describes synthetic analogs of concanamycins which induce apoptosis to cancer cells that overexpress epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR).
The present invention describes new macrocyclic lactone derivatives for the treatment of cancer.